


Stillness

by faikitty



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Misunderstandings, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-13
Updated: 2014-07-13
Packaged: 2018-02-22 15:40:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2512961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faikitty/pseuds/faikitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>From an ask/request on Tumblr: "What happened doesn't change anything."</p>
    </blockquote>





	Stillness

**Author's Note:**

> From an ask/request on Tumblr: "What happened doesn't change anything."

The inns they stay at often have taverns attached, and not everyone in Brave Vesperia can hold their alcohol.

Yuri is perfectly fine with it. He drinks less than one might expect in the first place given the circumstances of his childhood and his personality, and he can hold it well anyway. Raven, on the other hand, guzzles down alcohol like water, as most would assume. Judith is likely the best at taking it out of them all, able to throw back shots of hard liquor that would make a grown man sick. Most impressive is the fact that she never seems to have a hangover the next day. Rita, meanwhile, almost always chooses not to drink at all.

Karol is forced to order water.

Normally, Estelle doesn’t drink either. She can’t stomach the taste, and she tells Yuri she hates the way it takes her royal demeanor and reduces it to utter shreds.

Yuri honestly found that hard to believe until the day he saw her completely wasted.

It was a cold day, and it’s turning out to be an even colder night. The group made it across the mountains after a number of scuffles and close calls with an avalanche, and they met Flynn on the other side, stationed in a small town nestled into a valley.

Estelle had the worst of it throughout the day, nearly ending up losing an arm after it was caught between rocks in the wake of the avalanche. So she makes a decision that night, chooses to drink until she can’t think about the idiotic arguments the day contained and can’t feel the lingering pain of her dislocated shoulder.

Yuri watches from a nearby table as she drinks shot after shot, an amused half-smile perched on his face as her usual sweet, innocent mask crumbles. Flynn tries a couple of times to tell her she’s had enough, but she brushes him off with an odd drunken grace. Eventually he’s forced to give up and returns to a booth in the back where he can keep an eye on the bar. Yuri notices the knight drinking more than he ought to be too and grins to himself.

But it isn’t long before he finds himself worried about Estelle. The girl can’t hold her liquor at all, and he knows that if she drinks much more she’ll be sick. He makes his way to the front of the bar and taps on her shoulder. “Hey, Estelle. You really should stop soon.”

"Why? Because I’m not behaving like a princess?" she asks sarcastically, and he lifts an eyebrow at the petulant question.

"No. Because if you keep this up, you’ll be sick. I couldn’t care less about whether you act like royalty or not."

The princess’s accusatory expression softens then takes on a strange look. She stands, wobbling slightly, and reaches up slowly to brush soft fingers across Yuri’s cheek.

He jerks his head back, confused. “Estelle? What are you—?”

Yuri’s eyes go wide as Estelle suddenly kisses him. She presses herself into him, fingers tucked into the band of his waist to pull his hips in closer despite the stiffness of his body. Yuri doesn’t dare move, only stands there frozen as the catcalls of their neighbors fill his ears. Slowly yet firmly, he reaches his hands up to set them on her upper arms and pushes her away. She gazes intently at him with curious, injured as their lips are separated.

"Why?" she asks, eyes still fixed on Yuri’s, but he isn’t sure if she’s questioning him or herself. Her stare becomes unfocused, and she slumps; Yuri, still holding her arms, catches her and gathers her up in a pile of pink and white fabric. Her face is peaceful now, at least, and Yuri is certain she won’t remember a thing in the morning.

The man shakes his head and starts toward the stairs, Estelle still held in his arms. Out of the corner of his eye, he catches Flynn watching him. He cringes internally at the conversation he knows is coming.

But for right now, putting the princess to bed before she gets herself hurt is more important. He makes his way into her room, connected to the boy’s room by a door. He sets Estelle in her bed, removes her shoes, and pulls the covers up over her as she subconsciously adjusts herself into a more comfortable position for sleeping. As he stands, he wonders if he should wait to make sure someone else will come, keep Estelle from being alone when she’s passed out drunk. But as he tiptoes to the door, he hears footsteps down the hall that he recognizes to be Rita’s, and he has no doubt the fiery young girl would beat anyone who tried to take advantage of Estelle in her sleep within an inch of their life.

He ducks out of the room and back down the stairs in order to avoid an argument. When he reaches the bottom, his eyes seek out Flynn, standing by the doorway, who motions for Yuri to follow with a nod of his head.

Out of the fire, into the frying pan, it seems.

But Yuri does as he’s told and follows the other man outside, only to find himself pinned against a wall in an alleyway, out of sight of the inn’s patrons.

"Care to explain what that was?" Flynn asks, temper barely concealed.

"Explain what?" Yuri inquires, blinking and giving the other man an innocent grin that he  _knows_  is going to cost him.

"You know what."

"Estelle?"

“ _Obviously_.”

Yuri pushes the knight’s arm away from his head, turns so they can be facing each other on equal grounds. “Flynn. She was  _drunk_. She wasn’t in control of herself,” he tries to explain, but he sees Flynn’s nostrils flair and knows he doesn’t believe him.

"You didn’t have to kiss her back." Flynn turns his back, apparently done with the conversation he began.

"I didn’t! Flynn, listen to me!" Yuri grabs his wrist and jerks him back around. Flynn’s eyes are shadowed as he stares at the ground and refuses to meet Yuri’s. "Don’t walk away from this—from me."

Flynn’s response is silence.

"She was drunk. She kissed me. Those are the facts. She may not even have known who I was. I did  _not_   _return the kiss_ ,” Yuri says slowly. In exasperation, he grabs Flynn’s chin between his thumb and forefingers and forces the knight to meet his eyes, to see that he  _isn’t_  lying about this. “You  _know_  what I kiss like, jackass. Don’t be so melodramatic.”

Flynn’s mouth opens but is quickly covered by Yuri’s before he has a chance to say anything else out of anger. It’s a real kiss this time, fiercer than the kind they usually share, and more evenly matched than the one with Estelle. When Yuri slips in his tongue he can taste strong alcohol along Flynn’s teeth, and it explains a lot. He wraps his arms around the small of Flynn’s back and tugs him until their bodies are nestled against each other, clinging to one another in the darkness.

When they break apart to take a breath, Flynn shudders and lets his head rest against Yuri’s shoulder, fingers balled up in his long, dark hair.

"What happened doesn’t change anything," Yuri murmurs, holding him tight. "It doesn’t change anything at all. Alright?"

Flynn nods and presses a kiss to Yuri’s neck before leaning entirely against him, eyes closed and body limp. Yuri lets out a long sigh and pulls Flynn’s head back so he can look at him.

Unconscious, just like Estelle.

Yuri picks up his lover and carries him back inside and up to the room they share with the other guys. He repeats the same process as with the princess, only this time, he kneels next to the bed. He watches Flynn’s bangs flutter as they’re caught by his breath, appreciates how much more peaceful the knight looks sleeping than he does when awake.

He leans in and presses one more light kiss to Flynn’s lips. “That’s a kiss. You’d think you’d know by now,” he murmurs to a man who can’t hear him, “you’re the only one for me.”


End file.
